Armed and insecure

A 2007 study found that “ammunition that should have been manufactured exclusively for state
security forces is in the hands of Karamojong warriors” who in addition “exhibit very ‘young’
stocks of ammunition, suggesting a short chain of supply”. 306 With 13 per cent of ammunition
analysed there produced by Luwero—incidentally deemed of “low quality” by security forces—the
study notes that “governments in the region claim illicit cross-border trade is a major reason for
sustained insurgency, crime, and general violence in their countries. But in the case of Karamoja,
and indeed elsewhere, the roots of the problem may well lie at home rather than abroad.” 307
International Arms Control Mechanisms
Uganda has a better record than most of its neighbours when it comes to making
international arms control commitments. Like others in the Horn of Africa (but unlike 37 African
nations as at June 2016), it has failed so far to sign the Arms Trade Treaty, but Uganda
has been a State Party to the Mine Ban Treaty since 1999, is a signatory to the Convention
on Cluster Munitions and has ratified the CCW (though it has not signed its Protocols II-
Amended and V). 308 On SALW, Uganda signed the Geneva Declaration on Armed Violence and
Development in 2007, and has signed and ratified the UN Firearms Protocol and the Nairobi
Protocol. Its commitment to implementing the UN Programme of Action was ranked 87 th among
159 countries. 309 !
306 Small Arms Survey, ‘Small Arms Survey 2007’, www.smallarmssurvey.org/fileadmin/docs/A-Yearbook/2007/en/full/Small-Arms-Survey-2007-Chapter-09-EN.pdf.
307 Ibid. The same does not entirely hold for the small arms themselves; as one study notes, “sources of small arms supply to Karamoja include Kenya and
South Sudan, as well as pilferage from the armed forces and the remnants of weaponry left over from past armed conflicts in Uganda. In view of the long, open,
and unregulated borders with Kenya and South Sudan and the abundant availability of small arms in those countries, the Karamojong can easily access such
weapons.” http://www.smallarmssurvey.org/fileadmin/docs/C-Special-reports/SAS-SR17-Karamoja.pdf.
308 For the Arms Trade Treaty, see https://s3.amazonaws.com/unoda-web/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/ATT-status-table-WebReport-31-May-2016.pdf.
Regarding the Mine Ban Treaty, it has got behind on its transparency obligations (Article 7): http://www.the-monitor.org/en-gb/reports/2016/uganda/mine-banpolicy.aspx.
Regarding the Convention on Cluster Munitions, “Uganda has expressed its intent to ratify the convention on several occasions since 2010” but
has not yet followed through with implementing national legislation: http://www.the-monitor.org/en-gb/reports/2016/uganda/cluster-munition-ban-policy.aspx.
Moreover, Uganda has been accused of using the weapons within South Sudan (see ‘Spotlight’).
309 Small Arms Survey, ‘The Programme of Action Implementation Monitor (Phase 1)’, August 2012, www.smallarmssurvey.org/fileadmin/docs/B-Occasionalpapers/SAS-OP30-PoAIM.pdf.
PAX ! Armed and insecure
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